CUA drops 14-13 heartbreaker to Drew in double overtime

Apr 05, 2012

MADISON, N.J. – CUA suffered a heartbreaking 14-13 loss in double overtime at Drew on Thursday. The Cardinals trailed 13-11 with 2:30 to play in regulation before scoring two straight to force overtime, but Drew's Steve Gentile scored at the 2:32 mark of the second OT to send the Rangers to the win.

Drew jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a pair of goals in the game's opening 4:10, but Brian Keith got CUA on the board at the 5:26 mark of the opening quarter to cut the Rangers lead in half.

Craig Wagenblast's score with 5:17 to play in the quarter made it 3-1 Drew, but CUA closed things out with a 3-0 run to take a 4-3 lead after one. Tyler Catalani scored once and Chris Fuccillo twice during the Cardinals' run.

Drew began the second quarter with three straight scores to take a 6-4 lead with 6:32 to play before halftime, but Catalani scored his second goal at the 4:58 mark to bring CUA within one.

The Rangers closed the half out with three more goals though, to surge into halftime with a 9-5 advantage.

CUA dominated the third quarter, outscoring the Rangers 5-0 to go in front 10-9. Marc Saxton and Fuccillo scored two goals in the quarter and Catalani added one to give CUA its first lead since late in the first quarter.

The back-and-forth continued with Drew scoring the first three goals of the fourth to go back on top, 12-10, but Fuccillo's score with 2:41 to play made it a one-goal affair.

Sean McGowan answered right back for Drew at the 2:26 mark to make it 13-11, but the Cardinals never wavered, getting a goal from Fuccillo with 2:13 to play to pull within one, and another goal by Catalani with 1:31 on the clock to knot the score at 13.

Drew won the ensuing face-off and was able to get off three shots in the final 38 seconds, but Mark Destro stopped one and the other two sailed wide, sending the teams to overtime.

CUA controlled the early action in the first OT session, taking three shots in the first 1:19, but two were saved by Charlie DeSocio and the other was blocked.

Drew then took over and got off two shots but both were wide. After the ball changed hands several times, Fuccillo took two shots in the final 12 seconds, but DeSocio was there for the saves, keeping the score tied at 13.

In the second overtime, CUA won the opening face-off and worked the ball around to Catalani for a shot, but his attempt was high. Drew then cleared the ball and called timeout, looking to set up a potential game-winning shot.

Following the stoppage, the Rangers got a shot from Humphries with 2:58 on the clock, but it went wide.

Time continued to tick away and the ball eventually made its way to Gentile, who fired a shot into the back of the net for the game-winner.

Drew finished with a 45-38 advantage in shots, while CUA won the ground ball battle 33-27.

The Rangers won 22 of 31 face-offs and were 17 of 23 in clear attempts, while CUA was 19 of 21 in clears.

Patrick Pfaff got the start in goal for CUA and stopped six shots, while Destro went the final 39 minutes and sent back six shots of his own. Denver Conley led the Cardinals with four ground balls, while Ryan Doyle caused a team-high three turnovers.

Scott Humphreys led the Rangers with four goals, while McGowan went 22 of 31 at the X. DeSocio finished with 13 shots in goal.

CUA is now off until Saturday, April 14 when the Cardinals travel to face Goucher in another conference showdown. The opening face-off is set for 1 p.m.